Gaming terminals, such as slot machines, video poker machines and the like, have been a cornerstone of the gaming industry for several years. Generally, the popularity of such machines with players is dependent on the likelihood (or perceived likelihood) of winning money at the machine and the intrinsic entertainment value of the machine relative to other available gaming options.
When conducting a wagering game, a player receives an individual award if a winning outcome is achieved. For example, in a traditional reel-based wagering game, a winning outcome is achieved if a particular, predetermined combination of symbols occurs on the reels along an active payline upon which a player has lodged a wager. The award corresponding to that predetermined combination of symbols and often the level of the wager itself along the associated active payline is then awarded to the player.
Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. (KDEI), a subsidiary of Konami Corporation, of Tokyo, Japan, manufactures a video slot machine named “Rawhide”™. This slot machine retains a predetermined plurality of adjacent symbol positions on a reel strip as undefined and, following the player's pressing of the spin button, a single symbol is randomly assigned to each of the symbol positions in that predetermined plurality of undefined adjacent symbol positions. Thus, when the reel stops, each of the displayed symbol positions of a reel then display a common symbol, such as “Q.”